Truss



C. C. FINE Feb. 20, 1962 TRUSS Filed July 6, 1959 i Fig.5

Char/es 6. F/he INVENTOR.

3,021,838 TRUSS Charles C. Fine, Rear 287 E. Main St, Nanticoke, Pa.Filed July 6, 1959, Ser. No. 825,336 4 Claims. (Cl. 12896) The presentinvention generally relates to a truss and more particularly to a trussincorporating a novel structural arrangement in which the truss may beused in combination with truss pads and leg straps for effectivelysupporting a left or right hernia, a double hernia or a navel hernia byaltering the position of the components.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a trussincorporating a belt encircling the waist just above the hips and legstraps detachably connected to the belt together with means on the legstraps for adjustably supporting truss pads for effectively supporting ahernia in the desired manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a truss in whichthe waist encircling belt and the leg straps are interconnected by aVelcro fastener assembly.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a truss whichis simple in construction, easy to assemble, easy to use in variousorientations and arrangements and relatively simple to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the truss of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passingalong section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the details ofconstruction of the interconnection between the free ends of the belt,the attachment of one of the leg straps, the construction of the trusspad and a mechanism for adjustably mounting the pad on the leg strap;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation of one of the truss pads illustrating thelateral adjustment feature thereof;

FIGURE 4 is an inside plan view of the belt with the belt extended andwith all of the leg straps omitted;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the outer surface of one end of the strapwhich underlies the other outer end and is detachably connected thereto;and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of one end of the leg straps illustrating theorientation of the structure for detaching the strap to the waist bandor belt.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generallydesignates the truss of the present invention which includes anelongated elastic belt or band 12 which may be constructed of webbing orany similar material suitable for purposes of encircling the waist justabove the hips with the free ends of the belt 12 overlapping and beinginterconnected by a fastener assembly 14 on the outer surface of theinner free end and a fastener assembly 16 on the inner surface of theouter free end. The fastener assemblies are known as Velcro closures andare manufactured by American Velcro Inc., Manchester, New Hampshire, andbriefly involve a multiplicity of closely spaced generally hook-shapedfastening elements which interlock when the assemblies 14 and 16 aremoved into engagement with each other and pressed toward each other.This type of fastener or closure is extremely secure when tension isplaced on the opposite portions of the belt 12 which would occurnormally during wear but yet permit ready detachment when the free endof the belt is pulled laterally outwardly. The inner surface of purposedescribed hereinafter.

Attached to the belt 12 in a detachable manner is a pair of leg straps26 and 28 which are substantially identical in construction and whichmay be used together as a pair or which may be used singly for either aleft or right hernia. The leg straps 26 and 28 are flexible fabricmaterial and may be elastic webbing and the outer end of the rearportion of each leg strap 26 and 28 is provided with a fastener assemblydesignated by numeral 30 on the leg strap 26. The forward ends of theleg str-aps 26 and 28 are each attached to a wider extension member 32which is connected to the strap by a bolt 34 which extends through oneof two grommets 36 connected with the strap 28 as shown in FIGURE 2. Thebolt 34 is externally threaded and provided with a plurality of nuts 38which rigidly and adjustably mount the bolt 34 in position and at thesame time hold the extension 32 in position by virtue of the severalnuts employed on the bolt 34.

The inner end of the bolt 34 is connected with a nut 40 laterallyslidable in a horizontal channel-shaped member 42 having a slot 44 inthe rear thereof which permits lateral adjustment of the bolt 34 inrelation to the chan nel-shaped member 42 which is rigidly afiixed to areinforcing plate 46 carried by a pad'generally designated by thenumeral 48 and which includes an outer covering 50 having a rear member52 on the rear surface of the plate 46 and secured thereto as bystitching 54 whereby the cover 50 and member 52 completely encompass theplate 46 and also an inflated pneumatic pad member 56 which may be ofleather, plastic or any other similar material. By manipulating the nuts38 on the bolt 34, the relative position of the pad 48 may be changedhorizontally and also inwardly and outwardly and,,if necessary, the padmay be mounted in the lower grommet 36. The outer surface of thereinforcing member 32 is pro vided with a fastener assembly 58 and theupper end of the extension 32 is provided with a U-shaped protector 60whereby the leg straps 26 and 28 may be more easily attached to the belt12.

The device may be used in conjunction with either a right or a left handrupture or hernia or both as illustrated in FIGURE 1. The particularconstruction and the plurality of nuts of the mounting bolt enablesinward and outward adjustment of the pads while the grommets 36 providefor vertical adjustment of the pads in relation to the leg straps andinasmuch as the fastener assemblies permit adjustment of the effectivelength of the leg straps and also permits effective adjustment forpositioning the leg straps in the desired position for use to a certainextent.

If desired, the inner free end of the strap may be provided with agrommet for receiving a fastening bolt of a truss pad for use inconjunction with a navel rupture. The truss pads may be of various otherconstructions rather than the hollow inflated members shown in thedrawing. These truss pads may be of foam rubber or any other suitablepads for this purpose.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative'only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A truss comprising an elongated waist encircling belt havingoverlapping end portions, means releasably retaining the end portions inoverlapping relation, a leg strap, means rigidly and detachablyconnecting the ends of the strap to the belt, a truss pad having a boltextending outwardly from the surface thereof opposite to the surfaceadapted to engage the body of a wearer, said bolt extending through theleg strap in spaced relation below the belt and adjustably connectedthereto for adjustably mounting the pad in position, said pad includinga backingplate, the inner end of said bolt being rigidly afi ixed to thebacking plate for the truss pad, said leg strap including a main bodyand a longitudinal extension, said bolt also forming the sole connectionbetween the main body of the leg strap and the extension of the legstrep.

2.-The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said pad is hollowandprovided with an inflated bag for cushion ng the engagement with theskin surface of a wearer.

3. A truss comprising an elongated flexible waist belt, a pair of legstraps detachably connected to the belt, each leg strap having alongitudinal extension longitudinally adjustably, and pivotallyconnected to the end of the leg strap and extending into overlyingrelation to the belt and detachably connected thereto, a pad afiixed toeach leg strap, each pad having an outwardly extending fastening bolt,each leg strap and extension including a grommet receiving said bolt andforming the sole means for securing the extension to the leg strap, eachpad including a rigid reinforcing plate rigid with the'inner end of thebolt together with a hollow inflated member mounted on the plate forcushioning engagement with the skin surface.

4. A truss comprising an elongated flexible belt having overlapping anddetachably connected end portions Whereby the belt may be disposed inWaist encircling position, at least one leg strap assembly supportedfrom the belt, said leg strap assembly including an elongated leg strapof flexible material, one end of said leg strap extending across theinner surface of the belt at the rear thereof, means detachably andrigidly securing one end of the leg strap to the interior surface of therear portion of the belt for adjustable connection of the leg strap tothe belt at longitudinally spaced points thereon and for connection ofthe strap with the belt at vertically spaced points on the strap, alongitudinal extension at the other end of the strap, the other end ofsaid strap having a plurality of longitudinally spaced grommets therein,said extension extending in intersecting relation across the belt alongthe inner surface thereof, and means interconnecting the extension andthe inner surface of the belt for rigidly and detachably attaching theextension to the belt for longitudinal adjustable connection of theextension on the belt and vertical adjustable connection of theextension to the belt, a truss pad having a rigid backing plate, afastening bolt extending rearwardly from the backing plate, saidfastening bolt extending through the extension at point spaced below thebelt and extending through one of said longitudinally spaced grommets onthe strap whereby the bolt forms the sole means interconnecting the legstrap and extension and also supports the truss pad from the leg strapand extension said fastening bolt pivotally connecting the leg strap tothe extension whereby the leg strap may angulate in relation to thelongitudinal axis of the extension, said backing plate havinglongitudinal slot means therein slidably receiving the bolt for enablinglateral adjustment of the truss pad in relation to the fastening bolt,said backing plate also including a pneumatic cushion on the surfacethereof opposite from the fastening bolt for engagement with a personsbody thereby enabling the truss pad to be disposed in the desiredorientation.

'References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS367,799 Egan Aug. 9, 1887 621,078 Harkinson Mar. 14, 1899 1,244,766OBrien Oct. 30, 1917 1,573,856 Pease Feb. 23, 1926 1,629,067 Buckner May17, 1927 2,717,437 Mestral Sept. 13, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,274 GreatBritain 1899 12,805 Great Britain 1913

